I used to feed my doggy poison. :D

[Darkest.Nation]

I'm really hoping we can switch to Blue Buffalo since the Internet claims that it's great. I've found many sources that claim that science diet is pure junk. http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 209AAvwnAz http://www.howdoyougetarthritis.org/hil ... od-or-bad/ http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/gol ... d-bad.html http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 548AAPJoaE All of them claim SD is terrible and is like poison to the dog. D: I feel bad. Our dogs are fine with the food and all the vets we've visited approve of SD, which is why my parents don't believe me. I'm just trying to prevent future problems.

Blue Buffalo..... eh. It's been known to be a bag of mold. Quite frankly, the company doesn't need more money, either.

Taste Of The Wild, Evo, Natural Balance, Merrick, Nature's Variety, and Solid Gold are just a few great alternatives. If you search the names, plus "Blue Buffalo", you can find tons of info we've discussed about these brands.

[Bad Habit]

I use it as filler, to make it thicker and more of a paste than a soup. If given the chance, he would simply drink the broth, rather than eat all the good stuff. I also puree carrots and potatoes to thicken as well. I try to use what I can off the shelves to clean up what I've bought but not eaten, or what's been left in the freezer too long. It's not only a nutritional thing, but also a cost thing - I spent as much on 2 weeks worth of soft food for one dog as I do on 3mths+ worth of soup for 2 dogs. The filler is definitely not the bulk of what's in the food, though, the majority is meat and marrow.

And I agree on what others have said about Blue Buffalo. My dog ate three times as much on that as he did on Taste of the Wild, he had awful gas and poops, and the food itself didn't take long to smell musty.

[Imzadi83]

I was reading somewhere ( I think it was on of the links on the first post) that the only nutrional classes vets get are often ones sponsered by pet food compaines who give them and the school a lot of free food. Sad.

[Darkest.Nation]

Well, that's how it works. They're there for medicine, not food.

[lenp98]

My dog has had NO problems with ANY dog food apart from that he's picky and he's allergic to wheat. Blue buffalo is what he eats now, and it's amazing, for him and us. It's not horrible, as you say. It's helped my dog loose a lot of weight he didn't need; the only reason the company is so rich is because they HAVE GOOD PET FOOD. Put two and two together people, please.

[Darkest.Nation]

Nobody called it horrible, but there are a number of reports that it comes out to be all mold once the bag is opened, and dogs tend to have reactions to it, just like any other food.

I dunno, there's better than Blue. Blue's just the public representative of the holistic food market, I guess.


I'm just not comfortable with the fact that tomato... stuff and chicken fat are a bit "up there" on the list. Eh, maybe it's me.

[Junsui]

My dog has had NO problems with ANY dog food apart from that he's picky and he's allergic to wheat. Blue buffalo is what he eats now, and it's amazing, for him and us. It's not horrible, as you say. It's helped my dog loose a lot of weight he didn't need; the only reason the company is so rich is because they HAVE GOOD PET FOOD. Put two and two together people, please.

My dogs are fine with Science Diet, but I don't know...
And calm down. These are opinions. We aren't telling you to stop giving your dog that.

[Bad Habit]

My dog has had NO problems with ANY dog food apart from that he's picky and he's allergic to wheat. Blue buffalo is what he eats now, and it's amazing, for him and us. It's not horrible, as you say. It's helped my dog loose a lot of weight he didn't need; the only reason the company is so rich is because they HAVE GOOD PET FOOD. Put two and two together people, please.

Blue Buffalo found to contain excess VitD, causing illness
Blue Buffalo Recall concerning excess VitD
Consumer Complaints RE Blue Buffalo

I also read somewhere that Blue Buffalo has a very high carb count, but cannot find the source. Next time I'm at the pet store, I'll take a photo of the guaranteed analysis.

You can say what you want about the food, but personally, I'm not going to pay 10$ more for a food my dog eats much faster, which makes him fat and lethargic, and which has a serious risk of going mouldy.

[IAmLink]

Blue Buffalo is not TERRIBLE. But it's not one of the greatest either. As another poster said, Blue is sort of the face of holistic dog foods. And while it is good to get the idea into people's heads that they should look at the ingredients and what not...that doesn't mean that Blue is the best. The best brands, in fact, are the ones that are NOT popular. Popular as in they are not featured in their own commericals and you actually have to go out of your way to find them and they tend to be a bit more costly because they are of a higher quality. No one was absolutely bashing Blue, just that there are better alternatives.

One big thing I don't like about Blue is that, for the most part, only the first ingredient is real meat. I have only used kibble that had at least three meats listed as the first ingredients and I've even seen up to five before.

Just as with Science Diet. Some dogs don't seem to do necessarily BADLY on it, but it's the long term effects that count. A dog that was fed it's entire or most of it's life on a really high quality diet (whether it be a high quality kibble, home-made, or even on raw) that dog will most likely live a healthier and longer life. Those dogs are much less likely to have health issues and they will also have more energy even as they get older. Sadly, unlike dogs that are fed on lower quality foods like Science Diet (and worse, of course). One again, this is NOT saying that Science Diet (or some other food) is going to kill your dog or anything. Just that a better food might give your dog a better life. And that's really what it comes down to...are you willing to do whatever it takes to do the best for your dogs? Some people just don't really care. And some people say "oh, it's good enough". It's just all about perspective and what's best for your dog.

Frankly for me, I refuse to buy anything for my dogs that I have seen bad reports or bad reviews written about...especially when those reviews are written by professionals...

Please note that this is NOT directed at anyone in particular....

[Imzadi83]

I thought my dog was doing good on Science Diet but looking back now I realize it could have been the cause of all her problems. She had very low energy, a blood clotting disorder that almost killed her one Christmas, and she died of cancer at age 12. (there is no way it's normal for 50% of dogs to get cancer in their lifetime) I wish I had known back then (she died in '02) how bad it was as a food.